List of reptiles of Africa

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African reptiles are categorized by reptilian order:

Order Testudines: turtles

ImageCommon Name(s)Scientific nameDistributionNotes
Centrochelys sulcata.jpg African spurred tortoise or Sulcata tortoiseCentrochelys sulcatasouthern edge of the Sahara DesertThird largest species of tortoise in the world; the largest non-island species. [1]
Pelomedusa subrufa.JPG African helmeted turtle
Marsh terrapin
Pelomedusa subrufaVery wide range
Tortoise.aldabra.750pix.jpg Aldabra giant tortoise Aldabrachelys giganteaSeychelles
Astrochelys yniphora.jpg Angonoka tortoise Astrochelys yniphoranative to Madagascar
Aubry's flapshell turtle Cycloderma aubryiDemocratic Republic of Congo, Zaire, Gabon, Angola and theCentral African Republic
Pelusios subniger subniger - adult Pan Terrapin.jpg East African black mud turtle Pelusios subnigerEast Africa
GeometricTortoise.gif Geometric tortoise Psammobates geometricusCape area of South Africa
Geochelone pardalis bw 01.jpg Leopard tortoise Stigmochelys pardalissavannah from Sudan to South Africa [2]
Lobatse hinge-back tortoise Kinixys lobatsiana Southern Africa
African softshell turtle Trionyx triunguisparts of East, West and Middle Africa
Malacochersus tornieri - Buffalo Zoo.jpg Pancake tortoise Malacochersus tornierimost common in Kenya and Tanzania [3]
Astrochelis radiata1.jpg Radiated tortoise Astrochelys radiatanative to southern Madagascar [4]
Kinixys spekii.jpg Speke's hinge-back tortoise Kinixys spekiiTanzania, etc.
Turkana mud turtle Pelusios broadleyi Eastern Africa (Kenya, etc.)
Upemba mud turtle Pelusios upembaeDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Pelusios castanoides.JPG Yellowbelly mud turtle Pelusios castanoidesMadagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, and Tanzania

Order Squamata: snakes and lizards

Order Crocodilia: crocodiles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of the Democratic Republic of the Congo</span>

The wildlife of the Democratic Republic of the Congo includes its flora and fauna, comprising a large biodiversity in rainforests, seasonally flooded forests and grasslands.

In the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, Carl Linnaeus described the Amphibia as:

Animals that are distinguished by a body cold and generally naked; stern and expressive countenance; harsh voice; mostly lurid color; filthy odor; a few are furnished with a horrid poison; all have cartilaginous bones, slow circulation, exquisite sight and hearing, large pulmonary vessels, lobate liver, oblong thick stomach, and cystic, hepatic, and pancreatic ducts: they are deficient in diaphragm, do not transpire (sweat), can live a long time without food, are tenatious of life, and have the power of reproducing parts which have been destroyed or lost; some undergo a metamorphosis; some cast (shed) their skin; some appear to live promiscuously on land or in the water, and some are torpid during the winter.

References

  1. Branch, Bill (William R.) (2008). Tortoises, terrapins and turtles of Africa. Cape Town: Struik. ISBN   978-1-77007-463-7. OCLC   191891072.
  2. Baker, P.J. Kabigumila, J. Leuteritz, T. Hofmeyr, M. & Ngwava, J.M. (2014-08-29). "Stigmochelys pardalis". doi: 10.2305/iucn.uk.2015-4.rlts.t163449a1009442.en .{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. Kenyatta Malonza, Patrick (1 January 2003). "Ecology and Distribution of the Pancake Tortoise". Journal of East African Natural History. 92: 81. doi: 10.2982/0012-8317(2003)92[81:EADOTP]2.0.CO;2 . ISSN   0012-8317. S2CID   84643003.
  4. "Radiated tortoise". Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology InstituteSmithsonian's National Zoo. 25 April 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)